From: nbertrando@pomona.edu
Sent: Monday, February 05, 2001 9:11 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket No. 00N-1396, and 00D-1598
Jane Henney
Dockets Management Branch, Food and Drug Administration
5630 Fisher's Lane, Room 1061
Rockville, MD 20852
Dear Jane Henney,
The new regulations and guidelines put forward by your
agency on genetically engineered (GE) foods are a disappointment
for American consumers. Despite overwhelming and consistent
demand, your agency still fails to require comprehensive
safety testing for GE foods. The notification policy
ignores strong scientific evidence of numerous potential
health and environmental risks to GE foods, and allows
the current system of laissez-faire oversight to continue.
As you know, genetically engineered foods can be toxic,
cause allergic responses, have lower nutrition value,
compromise immune responses in consumers, and cause
irreparable damage to the environment. Wtihout proper
long term testing to ensure safety, these foods could
cause substantial damage to the livlihood of Americans
who have no way to avoid the potential dangers. We
need to know the potential impacts of the nutrients
we ingest and to be aware of the inputs into the food
we eat.
I am also greatly opposed to your new "voluntary labeling"
policy, which denies consumers a basic right to know.
Why would companies volutarily label their product
as genetically engineered, if they were afraid it would
hurt sales? Without mandatory labeling, neither consumers
nor health professionals will know if an allergic or
toxic reaction was the result of a genetically engineered
food. Consumers will also be deprived of the critical
knowledge they need to hold food producers liable should
any of these foods prove hazardous. And because there
are ecological risks associated with genetically engineered
crops, such as impacts on the soil ecosystem and non-target
species like Monarch butterflies, consumers may want
to avoid them. We need labeling to be able to make
an educated decision.
Your proposed rules ignore serious concerns, and appear
to be a decision made to convenience industry at the
expense of public health and the environment. I trust
you will take my concerns into serious consideration.
Sincerely,
neil Bertrando
170 e. 6th st box 437
claremont, California 91711